My mother found an old J.L. Hudson* employee handbook in her possession. There’s no date on it but it’s probably from around 1948. Neither she nor my aunt ever worked there but she thinks my aunt might have received it there when applying for a job. (Apparently my aunt, Barbara, had been let go from her job at Kresge’s for being late.) Eventually I’ll scan the whole thing but for now here’s the cover and “store organization” page which lists the managers. They were:

* J.L. Hudson was the iconic department store in Detroit rivaled only by New York’s Macy’s in its heyday. At the time this handbook was written the flagship store was 24 stories tall with 4 basements underground and a total area of 2,124,316 sq. feet.

This photo has nothing to do with me but I just happened to run across it online for sale just now and couldn’t help myself from posting it. I know I can’t save every bit of history but this one has a name on it that may lead to a connection.

The Montana seller states:Vintage cabinet card from South Dakota. Name written in pencil is Martin Kraal. Hickell, Beresford, S.Dak.

I suppose the name could be Martin Kural. Hard to tell. Date is unknown but probably 1900-1909s.I noticed in the ancestry database a 1913 border crossing record at Buffalo for Martinios Kraal. Could it be the same person I wonder…

According to my mother, these 1957 shots were taken at a Catholic place in the Irish Hills area of Michigan which is west of Detroit. So far I haven’t been able to pinpoint the spot. It could be St. Joseph’s shrine in Brooklyn, MI but I haven’t found any matching photos of these locations.

Statue of St. Joseph (?) with a wishing well in front. That’s my mother pregnant with my brother.

Another statue with flower beds in the shape of a cross.

This is also from 1957. I found a modern photo from St. Joseph’s shrine with a similar sculpture to this one but it’s definitely not the same. Of course they may have replaced it since concrete sculptures are certain to degrade over time. Based on that site, this may have been one of the sculptures created by Dionicio Rodriguez.

This photo shows my mother Annie Chachich with her old high school friend Doris Teufner and husband Joe Teufner. We were on a joint family vacation with the Teufners the summer of 1974. The family on the right are unknown. My mother doesn’t remember them, so we think they were other residents of the lakeside cabins that just happened to be there at the same time as we were. We made good enough friends with them such that they came out on the rented pontoon boat with us, probably to share the cost.

Lake and location are unknown but undoubtedly somewhere “up north” Michigan. Probably somewhere in the middle of the state rather then truly way up north. Below are a couple pictures of the lake and shore in case somebody recognizes the location. If you do recognize the place or people, please let me know.

This is from our 1975 family trip to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. I believe this was taken at the Canadian Soo Locks observation area. The kid in the yellow shirt second to the left I think is Cindy Sandvik’s brother (assuming she had a brother). My brother has vivid memories of Cindy Sandvik (not pictured) because he has a small crush on her. So she was probably 18ish.We were visiting them on our way to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I’m not even sure how we knew the Sandviks. My understanding is that they are related to us somehow via my grandfather John Chuncich with links going back to Croatia. I don’t think I ever met them again after that day but my parents continued exchanging Christmas cards with them for many years.

The other people in the photo I know well. That’s me on the left, my sister Paula and my two cousins Paul & Robert.

This is a shot of the crane/cargo ship DC Everest entering the Canadian Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie in the summer of 1975. This appears to have been taken from the park located on Canal St. on North St. Mary’s island. According to boatnerd.com, DC Everest was built in 1953 and primarily carried wood (pulp) products between Marathon, Ontario and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Later it was renamed to Condarrell.

OK, I know what you’re thinking.What an adorable kid… and where can I get myself a pair of pants like that?Well, sorry, that kid is all growed up now and he’s no longer adorable.That’s me circa 1975. Luckily the 70s wasn’t really my coming-of-age decade but I was still collaterally damaged.(How could one wear clothes like this and not be traumatized?)

I’m not sure of the location. Some nature or park setting, most likely in Southeast Michigan.

This is a photograph of Trenary’s Rustic Motel from the summer of 1963. The preceding photos on the roll were taken at Fort Michilimackinac so I think this place is somewhere near Mackinaw City. However is also possible that it was in the actual town of Trenary which is in the U.P. (Michigan’s Upper Peninsula). The street number noted on the office is “261.”

The whole purpose of this blog is to post random photos and stuff that may be helpful to others searching their family roots. My father took a lot of pictures over the years and I’ve been a big picture taker myself. So my hope is that some photos I post will be found and give a thrill to descendants of the people in them. I thought about posting in ancestry.com but that site isn’t really free. And Facebook is another possibility but not well suited for this. For now I think I’ll try this. Eventually any search engine should pick up whatever I put on here. If you have any tips or advice please comment.